Inauthentic Scholasticism: game 00010

This game, if played correctly, will yield players a vast reserve of overly-formatted but textually-unified notes on the goings-on of their daily lives. The point of Inauthentic Scholasticism is to transform all casual writing, be it notes to roommates or e-mails to customer support professionals into the format of a scholarly paper. Any format can be used, though games should be standardized within a group of players. MLA and APA are just two examples. Consistency of style is more important than the merits of one format over another. An example (in APA style):

A great deal of research has been done in the field of what soda I’d like you to pick up on your way home. Jefferson (2005) discovered that Pepsi was really good, though Sanchez (2006) has since determined that Coke is a little bit cheaper. While Suzuki’s research which highlighted the undervaluing of Sprite (1999) cannot be overlooked, another opinion best describes the solution to this problem. Hamburg writes, “Dr. Pepper is wicked good. I can’t really describe the taste, but I know I love it. Let’s drink Dr. Pepper from now on” (Hamburg, 2003, p. 354).

Works Cited

Hamburg, C. (2003). Tasteful Choices and Soft Drinks: The Plight of the Doctor of Soda. Drink Selection Quarterly. 67(5), 342-395

Jefferson, L. (2005). Adolescence and Beverage Decision-Making. Pepsi Doctoral Thesis Review. 53(2), 27-86.

Sanchez, S. (2006). My Mother Drank Coke: Cross-Generational Surveys of Non-Milk Drinking Habits. Gender and Non-Citrus Beverages. 5(6), 135-207.

Suzuki, M. (1999). Asian-Americans are the Sprite of America. Sugar and Ethnicity Monthly. 19(5), 325-354.

Points are awarded by using a complex algorithm which determines the ratio of the banality of the message being sent in a scholarly note to the complexity of the citation and formatting. For example, one would receive far more points for leaving a two-page document with a page of twenty properly-cited references attached which informed roommates that there was no more milk than for a half-page with no bibliography asking for a long list of chores to be done. Bonus points are given for citing the scholarly papers of others who are playing the game and weaving these notes into a fictional framework of journals and articles.
game created by Alex Butzbach